Epidemiologists
Investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.
12,090 people do this job in the US. $87,220 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 84%
- 16%
- 1%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 5%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provide expertise in the design, management and evaluation of study protocols and health status questionnaires, sample selection, and analysis.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.6 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 2%Half by Mar 2028 | |
| Oversee public health programs, including statistical analysis, health care planning, surveillance systems, and public health improvement.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Identify and analyze public health issues related to foodborne parasitic diseases and their impact on public policies, scientific studies, or surveys.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 2%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Investigate diseases or parasites to determine cause and risk factors, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 10% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.4 work weeks | 1%Half by Mar 2028 | |
| Write articles for publication in professional journals.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 1 work week2.1 work days to 2.8 work weeks | 0%Half by Oct 2028 | |
| Write grant applications to fund epidemiologic research.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 work weeks2.1 work days to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Jan 2029 | |
| Conduct research to develop methodologies, instrumentation, and procedures for medical application, analyzing data and presenting findings.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 work weeks1.7 work days to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Mar 2029 | |
| Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 4.2 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Plan, administer and evaluate health safety standards and programs to improve public health, conferring with health department, industry personnel, physicians, and others.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 2.6 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 0%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Supervise professional, technical, and clerical personnel.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Communicate research findings on various types of diseases to health practitioners, policy makers, and the public.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | 49%Half by now | |
| Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public about infectious and communicable diseases, including disease transmission and prevention.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 2% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 46%Half by Oct 2026 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).